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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23666842">The Eyes of a Wildcard</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, I don't know how tags work, I'm Sorry, Not Beta Read, because screw you, headcanon heavy, how does formatting work, i wrote this all on a tangent at 1am, i'm sorry for any weird wording, not P5R compliant, persona 4 section isn't great because i'm three hours into the game, that's a tag, the arisatos are twins and the same height in this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:27:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,266</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23666842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the wildcards seem a bit too unnatural.</p>
<p>Or, various teammates take note of the wildcards' oddities.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Eyes of a Wildcard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Minato and Minako Arisato look nothing alike, at first glance.<br/>
Minato’s eyes were a few shades lighter than his dark blue hair, while Minako’s eyes were an unnatural red, hair a light brown. They both wore headphones, nearly all the time— around their necks, actually on their ears— one time, they switched their pairs for a week to see if anyone would notice.<br/>
Fuuka noticed first, as she wasn’t the navigator for nothing and knew her way around technology. She simply waited for the others to notice.<br/>
They did, eventually. It was rather hilarious to watch. </p>
<p>The Arisato twins did look somewhat similar beyond the headphones, if you looked closely. Their facial structure and mannerisms were nearly identical, though Minako was more outgoing than her brother. They happened to be the exact same height, and could fix you with an identical piercing stare. (One would be wise to back away if they were the subject of both stares— that only spelled danger.)</p>
<p>Their teammates, however, could also account that in battle, they flowed to the same beat.<br/>
Perhaps it was twin intuition (“the one time they cooperate with each other,” Yukari would mutter jokingly), but they used their Evokers with an unsettling ease, shooting themselves in the head with the fake guns. One would leave an opening for another, or they would set up a finishing blow for a teammate. Sometimes only one twin would delve into Tartarus, or they’d come back and switch teams. </p>
<p>Their teammates also noticed their eyes.<br/>
Whenever the duo set off their Evokers, summoning their Personas with the sound of shattering glass, their eyes glowed. Glowed with an unnatural light, Personas lashing out at the monstrous shadows they faced.<br/>
Each twin’s eyes would glow a bright, bright blue. One would think it would be hard to tell, with Minato, but the way his eyes lit up when channeling his Persona was so different from his norm.<br/>
Occasionally, when hanging out with friends, the duo’s eyes would light up with a glow like they were in the thick of battle. It would happen only for a split second, but it was there.<br/>
When questioned, they laughed and brushed it off. </p>
<p>In the end, on the rooftop, with Aigis— they were tired. So tired.<br/>
“Guess that did bite us in the ass, huh?” Minako murmured sleepily, hardly feeling the bench beneath her back. She could hear them, the rest of their friends, the rest of SEES, showing up. They remembered…<br/>
“It was worth it, though,” Minato replied in an equally drowsy voice as he stared at the sky.<br/>
“It’s time for us to go, then,” Minako sighed. “Tell them we’re sorry we couldn’t stick around longer, eh, Aigis?”</p>
<p>The twin wildcards' eyes glowed, bright, bright blue, one last time, and they fell asleep together to greet an old friend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yu’s eyes glowed. </p>
<p>Yosuke first noticed it on that first trip to the TV world— his partner faced the snarling shadows, summoned his Persona for the first time (and without all the embarrassing shadow crap the rest had to go through). He didn’t notice it immediately, freaked out as he was. But when Yosuke saw his shadow…<br/>
The first thing he noticed on his shadow was the yellow eyes. Not a warm yellow, or even gold- but sickly, neon yellow, spitting out harsh truths like acid.<br/>
It kinda all went to hell when that same shadow became some weird gecko thing and Yosuke could only sit and watch. Teddie was instructing Yu as best as possible, and Yu crushed the tarot card that appeared before him like he had done it a thousand times before.<br/>
Yosuke was dazed, and hurting. If that’s what Saki-senpai had actually thought about him, and if that’s what he felt inside…<br/>
It didn’t stop his attention from being caught by Yu as he fought whatever his shadow had become.<br/>
Yosuke had to do a double take— if Yu had become a shadow too, they were most definitely screwed and he should’ve done so much more before dying and what if his body was hung up like the others—<br/>
But no, the glow of Yu’s eyes was different, somehow. Every time the silver-haired boy summoned his Persona— Izanagi— his eyes would glow a warm gold. It was softer than the blinding yellow of shadows, more friendly and safe.<br/>
Yosuke decided not to comment on it, with all that was happening. Even when he talked to Yu the next day, and his eyes flashed gold again like they were back in the tv.<br/>
It was just another part of Yu, the wildcard with eyes that glowed gold sometimes and who loved cats a bit too much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was odd, to think that if Akira had never decided to take a different route home, he never would’ve been arrested. He never would’ve been forced to move out to Tokyo, never would’ve met his friends (and never would’ve been held down by the guilt of a person he couldn’t save, he was so close—) and never would’ve become a Phantom Thief. </p>
<p>“Dude, have you ever noticed your eyes like, turn red?” Ryuji had mumbled the question through a mouthful of ramen. Akira had hacked on his own noodles, trying to ignore the way his throat burned.<br/>
“Pardon?”<br/>
“Y‘know, when you summon your Personas and stuff,” Ryuji tacked on, preoccupied with his ramen. “Or when you’re like, breaking things in palaces to take. How do you know which things have shit in ‘em anyways?”<br/>
“I’m pretty sure it’s a wildcard thing,” Akira replied tentatively once he had regained control over his lungs. “Not sure about the eyes, though- are you sure you’re not hallucinating?”<br/>
His best friend scoffed and rolled his eyes, waving his chopsticks in the air. “Ask Morgana or something, I can’t be the only one who’s noticed.”</p>
<p>Ryuji was right- the whole team noticed and thought it was normal.<br/>
Akira had to admit, at least, with what they saw on a regular basis, maybe his eyes glowing red wasn’t at the top of the “Really Weird Things Seen While Thieving” list (he was still partially traumatized from seeing a teacher in nothing but a Speedo and cloak).<br/>
Akira forgot about it, eventually. His eyes changing from gray to red became a normal thing— until the engine room.<br/>
Akechi…<br/>
There was a lot to unpack there, and try to fix. Maybe they could convince Akechi to give it up, get back at his father with them instead of pulling the carpet from underneath Shido and hoping for the best.<br/>
“Joker! His eyes…”<br/>
The Phantom Thieves could only watch as Akechi’s dark eyes started glowing a haunting, burning scarlet.<br/>
Just like Akira.<br/>
Akechi was a wildcard.<br/>
His eyes burned crimson as he sent Loki after the thieves, cackling in self-induced madness. Akira could only desperately switch between Personas, hoping something would get through to Akechi, wake him up. The other teen didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve to be alone with the hatred and isolation tearing through his veins. </p>
<p>Akira could only stare at his own scarlet-eyed, terrified expression in the hangar door as he ignored the tears in his eyes and silently begged for Akechi to live.<br/>
No one answered, because god didn’t care and no one would care if a teenage detective (murderer, some part of Akira’s brain whispered. Wildcard, friend, another part hissed back) disappeared. </p>
<p>Akira became the only wildcard with glowing scarlet eyes, though not the first and most certainly not the last with far too many regrets. Those same eyes would become the last thing Yaldabaoth would ever see.</p>
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